SHANGHAI • Foshan Haitian Flavouring & Food Co, China's largest soya sauce maker by sales, has decided to raise the retail prices of its products due to higher costs.

The company plans to increase the prices of soya sauce, oyster sauce and other products by 3-7 per cent from Oct 25, as the costs of raw materials, transport and energy continue to rise, the Shanghai-listed firm said in an exchange filing dated Oct 13, adding that the hike is aimed at making its business more "sustainable".

Shares of Haitian, which has a total market value of more than US$74 billion (S$99.7 billion), slipped 0.4 per cent at the close.

A global commodities boom has added to inflationary pressure in the world's second largest economy, pushing China's factory-gate inflation to a 13-year high and threatening to squeeze profit margins of many industrial and consumer companies.

The official Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday that China's factory-gate inflation may have continued to accelerate last month, with producer prices expected to rise more than 10 per cent. However, consumer inflation may have slowed because of lower pork prices, it said.

Haitian's stock has surged 32 per cent since mid-September, topping the 1.5 per cent gain by the CSI 300 Index of key companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen. It has 32 buy ratings and six holds from brokerages tracked by Bloomberg, with no sells.

BLOOMBERG